angelo dell'inferno: Brilliant? Hardly, at least I don't think so,. Then again, I am the overly picky author sooo that doesn't help but I'm glad you think so!

Linnorria: I loved your review, It helped me think about this, I know this has nothing to do with the Empire but I'm working on something so that I have written down who they are and what they are about so that I know what I'm talking about and Balder who you haven't met yet will explain in the next chapter.

basest-8: K, slowing down, well, maybe I think I'm slowing down. Maybe I'm not. I tend to launch head first into plot and don't let you go till the very end, which is a good trick when utilized correctly. You're not the first person to say I move to fast, maybe that's a hint eh?

Nawat Crow: Hmm, horse fetish? Or mayhap its more of an obsession? ;)

Raiden

It seemed as if the girl never stopped talking. Seriously, he had known some human girls in his time, and yes, they chattered incessantly, but nothing like this. If someone had told him three days ago that today he would be wandering trough the Immortal Forest with a human girl, he would have laughed. If someone had told him that this human girl was the Phoenix, he would have laughed. The Phoenix was supposed to be a strong, powerful woman; this girl did not appear to be any of those things. She was supposed to be able to turn centaurs into Humans. A power the gods did not possess, and yet, this girl, barely sixteen, was to be their deliverer.

And that bloody bird! It was following them, flying above their heads barely out of reach, she had asked him what it was and he had frowned. It looked like a phoenix, it sounded like a phoenix when it called, light, airy, musical, almost like a flute. But it was silver, therefore he was refraining from telling her it was anything until he spoke with Balder.1

And why, why was he attracted to her? She's not even my kind. He thought bitterly, but she has the ability to change that. The calm, still part of him whispered. That only makes it worse. I'm years, decades older that her. And still young. In this world, not in hers.

His inner battle might have raged all day, had he not realized she was no longer behind him. He turned, intrigued by her sudden urge to rest. Except, she wasn't resting, she was standing, hands propped on her hips in fists, the silver bird resting on her shoulder, preening her hair, a mass of unorganized, probably tangled, still attractive-to him anyway, curls.

"Yes?" He asked calmly, not surprised by her sudden bout of stubbornness. Humans were, are, very random creatures he was learning. Centaurs were not random. Their actions were carefully planned after years of thought. If they were not sure about something, they waited until they were or the problem had taken care of itself through time. They waited because they could, unless something killed them, they simply, lived, forever.

"Question." She said, tipping her head to the side.

"Yes?" He said again, not liking repeating himself.

"Your name isn't Ed is it?" She asked.

"No."

"Then what is it?" She asked.

"Raiden." He said with a not quite audible sigh.

"Thunder and lightning." She said, after a moment. "After the Yamani god I suppose." She said and he nodded. He was surprised that she knew about Raiden, he sounds like a main character, but he had been almost forgotten in the wave of Mithros and the Mother worship.

"Can we move on now?" He asked with a gentle smile.

"No, how do you know that I'm this Phoenix, this savior you speak of?" She asked. Direct little thing. He thought before shaking his head.

"I don't." He answered, I wish Balder had come instead, he knows so much more about this than I do. I should have paid more attention when he told me, but no, I had to be the young buck, go, get the girl, come back, and become a hero, simple! No, dumb, really dumb. It's not that easy, no, I have to deal with a stubborn child.

"Then why waste your time?" She asked, placing her top hat on her head jauntily, she had left the dress but kept the hat, for some odd reason. Really, it was out of habit, a lady never went anywhere without a hat these days, twas a new fashion Princess Aoife 2 had started last season.

"Because I was instructed to." He said quietly, not quiet enough to be called a mutter, Centaurs never muttered, they were above that, or so they liked to think.

"Instructed to!" She yelled, or maybe just said very loudly, loudly enough that her voice echoed throughout the forest. "By whom?" She asked as the wheels in her head began turning. "You orchestrated that whole thing! The bandits, you had them attack us." She said, her voice growing angrier and more violent by the second.

"We did no such thing!" He said hoarsely, Centaurs did not yell, they got eerily quiet. "If you haven't noticed, Centaurs don't exactly rule here. Humans do."

"And I am supposed to change that?" She asked bitterly.

"No." He said with finality.

"Really?" She asked sarcastically. "That was what it sounded like. You spoke of glary and returned honor and riches. Isn't that what one usually speaks of when one wishes to rule?"

Suddenly he was very close to her. "You twist my words lady, I spoke of glory yes, but not in the sense of power. Glory can be thought of as many things, honor and respect can be glory to a scholar, it can be riches and fame to another, glory can come in the form of the immortality of something one works towards. That is the glory of which I spoke.

"Centaurs want nothing but to be recognized as equals. We are alike, Centaurs, Stormwings, Spindrens, we are all of the same race, we are all human in one form or another. We, as Centuars, Stormwings and Spindrens have the ability to become our whole selves, to change between one form and another, if only you will come to understand and help us.

"Sadly enough we want nothing other than acceptance from you. We wish to be whole, to be human. Maybe you don't understand that, maybe you don't want to, but at one point, you have to."

1: Balder means 'Prince'

2: Princess Aoife is Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami's eldest daughter. They assumed the throne twelve years ago when Roald was thirty making them forty two-ish.

A/N: Okay, hope that explains things a little more! And Ahhh! I'm off to the next chappie because I have more explaining to do which should make you all happier, I hope!

Natsumi